FIFTY CHRISTMAS POEMS

FOR CHILDREN

FIFTY CHRISTMAS
POEMS FOR
CHILDREN

AN ANTHOLOGY SELECTED BY

FLORENCE B. HYETT

Why do the bells of Christmas ring?
Why do little children sing?
Eugene Field

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK

MCMXXIII

COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Compiler expresses her thanks to Authors and Publishers for the use of poems in this volume and acknowledges her indebtedness.

The woodcut on the Cover of this book is reproduced by kind permission of the artist, Mr. C. T. Nightingale.

INDEX OF AUTHORS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

OLD CAROL

He came all so still

Where His mother was,

As dew in April

That falleth on the grass.

He came all so still

To His mother’s bower,

As dew in April

That falleth on the flower.

He came all so still

Where His mother lay,

As dew in April

That falleth on the spray.

Mother and maiden

Was never none but she;

Well may such a lady

God’s mother be.

Anonymous

THE LAMB CHILD

When Christ the Babe was born,

Full many a little lamb

Upon the wintry hills forlorn

Was nestled near its dam:

And, waking or asleep,

Upon His Mother’s breast,

For love of her, each mother-sheep

And baby-lamb He blessed.

John Banister Tabb

CHRISTMAS DAY AND EVERY DAY

Star high

Baby low:

’Twixt the two

Wise men go;

Find the baby,

Grasp the star—

Heirs of all things

Near and far!

George Macdonald

THE CHRISTMAS CHILD

“Little one, who straight hast come

Down the heavenly stair,

Tell us all about your home,

And the father there.”

“He is such a one as I

Like as like can be.

Do his will, and, by and by,

Home and him you’ll see.”

George Macdonald

THE LAMB

Little lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee,

Gave thee life, and bade thee feed

By the stream and o’er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing, woolly, bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice?

Little lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee?

Little lamb, I’ll tell thee;

Little lamb, I’ll tell thee;

He is callèd by thy name,

For He calls Himself a lamb;

He is meek and He is mild,

He became a little child.

I a child and thou a lamb,

We are callèd by His name.

Little lamb, God bless thee!

Little lamb, God bless thee!

William Blake

SONG

Why do the bells of Christmas ring?

Why do little children sing?

Once a lovely shining star,

Seen by shepherds from afar,

Gently moved until its light

Made a manger’s cradle bright.

There a darling baby lay,

Pillowed soft upon the hay;

And its mother sung and smiled:

“This is Christ, the holy Child!”

Therefore bells for Christmas ring,

Therefore little children sing.

Eugene Field

THE HOLLY

How happy the holly-tree looks, and how strong,

Where he stands like a sentinel all the year long.

Neither dry summer heat nor cold winter hail

Can make that gay warrior tremble or quail.

He has beamed all the year, but bright scarlet he’ll glow

When the ground glitters white with the fresh fallen snow.

Edith King

CAROL

When the herds were watching

In the midnight chill,

Came a spotless lambkin

From the heavenly hill.

Snow was on the mountains,

And the wind was cold,

When from God’s own garden

Dropped a rose of gold.

When ’twas bitter winter,

Houseless and forlorn

In a star-lit stable

Christ the Babe was born.

Welcome, heavenly lambkin,

Welcome, golden rose;

Alleluia, Baby

In the swaddling clothes!

William Canton

SHEPHERD’S SONG

As I rode out this enderes’ night,

Of three jolly shepherds I saw a sight

And all about their fold a star shone bright;

They sang, Terli, terlow;

So merrily the shepherds their pipes can blow.

Down from heaven, from heaven so high,

Of angels there came a great company.

With mirth, and joy, and great solemnity

They sang, Terli, terlow;

So merrily the shepherds their pipes can blow.

Old Song

VERSES FROM “THE CHERRY-TREE CAROL”

As Joseph was a walking

He heard an angel sing:

“This night shall be born

Our heavenly king.

“He neither shall be born

In housen nor in hall,

Nor in the place of Paradise,

But in an ox’s stall.

“He neither shall be clothed

In purple nor in pall,

But all in fair linen,

As were babies all.

“He neither shall be rocked

In silver nor in gold,

But in a wooden cradle,

That rocks on the mould.

“He neither shall be christened

In white wine nor red,

But with fair spring water,

With which we were christened.”

Then Mary took her young son,

And set him on her knee:

“I pray thee now, dear child,

Tell how this world shall be.”

“O I shall be as dead, mother,

As the stones in the wall;

O the stones in the street, mother,

Shall mourn for me all.

“And upon a Wednesday

My vow I will make,

And upon Good Friday

My death I will take.

“Upon Easter-day, mother,

My rising shall be;

O the sun and the moon

Shall uprise with me.

“The people shall rejoice,

And the birds they shall sing,

To see the uprising

Of the heavenly king.”

Traditional

A CRADLE SONG

Sweet dreams, form a shade

O’er my lovely infant’s head!

Sweet dreams of pleasant streams

By happy, silent, moony beams!

Sweet sleep, with soft down

Weave thy brows an infant crown!

Sweet sleep, angel mild,

Hover o’er my happy child!

Sleep, sleep, happy child!

All creation slept and smiled.

Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,

While o’er thee doth mother weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face

Holy image I can trace;

Sweet babe, once like thee

Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:

Wept for me, for thee, for all,

When He was an infant small.

Thou His image ever see,

Heavenly face that smiles on thee!

Smiles on thee, on me, on all,

Who became an infant small;

Infant smiles are His own smiles:

Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.

William Blake

THE BIRDS

When Jesus Christ was four years old,

The angels brought Him toys of gold,

Which no man ever had bought or sold.

And yet with these He would not play,

He made Him small fowl out of clay,

And blessed them till they flew away:

Tu Creasti Domine.

Jesus Christ, Thou child so wise,

Bless mine hands and fill mine eyes,

And bring my soul to Paradise.

Hilaire Belloc

CHRISTMAS EVE

In Christmas Eve the little stars

Sparkle and glisten with delight,

Like strings of glitt’ring diamonds,

Across the darkness of the night.

On Christmas Eve the little stars

Dance in their places in the sky;

Ah! I would go and trip with them

If I could only climb as high.

On Christmas Eve the little stars

Sing merry carols all night long;

But O! I am so far away

I cannot even hear their song.

On Christmas Eve the little stars

Sparkle, and dance, and sing till dawn;

And I am singing too, because

To-morrow will be Christmas Morn.

Charlotte Druitt Cole

A CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Loving looks the large-eyed cow,

Loving stares the long-eared ass

At Heaven’s glory in the grass!

Child, with added human birth

Come to bring the child of earth

Glad repentance, tearful mirth,

And a seat beside the hearth

At the Father’s knee—

Make us peaceful as thy cow;

Make us patient as thine ass;

Make us quiet as thou art now;

Make us strong as thou wilt be.

Make us always know and see

We are his, as well as thou.

George Macdonald

THREE CHRISTMAS SONGS

I. THE GUESTS

Why is there such a dancing din

About the stable of the inn?

“An old man, winter white, is here

A wayfarer he doth appear.”

“If this be all, why is the night

Lit up with this unearthly light?”

“A maid, the fairest maid, is here,

Some great Lady she doth appear.”

“But even so, why do there fly

Such flocks of Angels from the sky?”

“A Babe, a most sweet flower, is here,

A Child from Heaven He doth appear.”

II. COCKADOODLEDOO!

Cockadoodledoo!

Our Lady’s lost her shoe,

St. Joseph’s lost his lantern,

What will they do?

The Child will be both Shoes and Staff

And a Lantern too.

In the dark night He’ll be their Light.

And their Guide so true

Cockadoodledoo!

They that slept for sorrow